Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin supported a proposal by Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko to reduce the number of forums in Russia held at the expense of budgets at various levels. This was reported by Interfax.
According to the head of government, such events should primarily be organized by business, industrial leaders, and entrepreneurs, while the cabinet is prepared to support them only where such backing is reasonable.
“It is important that business itself, industrialists and entrepreneurs themselves, define and organize this work. The government will support this to the extent that it is reasonable,” Mishustin said.
Matviyenko, for her part, said that under current conditions the state must spend public funds carefully and ensure maximum efficiency in expenditures.
“We all must live frugally now, effectively saving every kopeck,” she said.
The Federation Council speaker also argued that a large number of such events distract officials from their core work. She asked for an analysis of the country’s forum system and an assessment of the effectiveness of those financed from federal and regional budgets.
At the same time, Matviyenko noted separately that several major platforms, including the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the Eastern Economic Forum, and some others, are not being questioned. However, in her view, the trend of holding forums has been expanding too rapidly.
According to the speaker of the upper house, if public funds are used to organize such events, some of them should be held not every year but once every two or three years.